Point of View
Short Stories

~Narrative Techniques~


Scenic Technique
  • Resembles a movie or play in its manner of presentation.

We are close to the actions in both a spatial and temporal sense.

The author presents actions that take a few seconds to perform in a passage that takes a few seconds to read.
  • Scenic techniques used at the beginning of a novel are more likely to capture a reader's attention at once because they are concrete and vivid.
Panoramic technique
  • Physical setting is highly generalized; narrative summary of events of a long period of time compressed into a single paragraph
  • Panoramic technique at the beginning of a novel often has the advantage of clarity; the reader knows where he/she is in time and space and has a definite point of departure for action that will follow.
  • Panoramic technique is economical; author can get necessary exposition out of the way and concentrate on the story's dramatic events.

Both scenic and panoramic techniquesare combined in most novels.